Seeing Red – 1987

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I am guessing on this date, Coach JacquesDemer of the Red Wings was riding high in Detroit and his team was doing well.  Jacques himself had won (or would win) Coach of the Year honors back to back.   He did a commercial where a fan asked him for tickets, and he proceeds to give him some, but they are not to the event that fan wanted (The fan expects Red Wing tickets but gets tickets such as theatre or ballet tickets). The point of the commercial was you don’t always get what you want or expect (I do not even remember the product he was peddling). Well one of the commercials showed the fan looking at his tickets with a real sour look on his face, exclaiming disappointedly, “The Lions”. After a couple weeks the commercial was pulled at the request of the Lions.

Imagine a commercial being made in a market that actually pokes fun at one of the professional teams in the area.  There was no fear of an uproar because everyone knew it was the truth.  Years later Jacques would admit to being illiterate which means he probably was not reading from a script.  Stay in Detroit long enough and this Lion stuff just comes naturally.